The Soldier
by SergeantSokka
Summary: The Avatar has not been discovered and it has been years since the second coming of Sozin's comet which left the fire Nation even more powerful than ever. Sokka is recruited into the Fire Nation Army to prove his tribe's loyalty. Could he be able to influence the outcome of the war from within the Fire Nation? After saving Azulas life, the two become tied together in this Adventure
1. Chapter 1

**This story takes place before the discovery of The Avatar in the South Pole. In order to make the story a little bit more realistic (assuming that the A:TLA is realistic) Sokka is aged 18 as is Azula. I will give ages of major characters as the story goes on. I have got a good story planned but it takes a while to put everything into words, hopefully it will be a little bit more light hearted from now on, after all the main character is Sokka. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask. Reviews, as ever, are appreciated. I hope you enjoy! **

Firelord Ozai sat in the throne room, deep in thought and surrounded in a sea of golden flames. He was troubled, an occurrence that was very rare indeed. He had just received reports of the second terrorist attack this week, but this was not what troubled him the most. What troubled him was that this attack had happened within the walls of the Capital City of the Fire Nation. The terrorists had attempted to strike fear into the citizens and nobles of the Fire Nation, to show that he could not protect his own people. Ozai could not let this happen; he knew he had no choice but to withdraw soldiers from one of his campaigns elsewhere in the world to stop the spread of terror. And He knew exactly where to get the soldiers from. For the first time since the attacks had started, Ozai allowed himself a small smirk.

The Firelord opened his eyes and spoke to the servant standing next to him. "Tell my daughter that she is to sail to the Southern Water Tribe and secure their loyalty by _any _means necessary."

Sokka was the first to notice the black snow that started to fall in the Southern Water Tribe village. His fists clenched as he forced himself to remember the terrible things that had happened when the black snow fell. Back then he had only been a child, unable to stop the soldiers as they killed his mother and ripped countless families apart. This time was different; he was a fully-fledged warrior and would do anything to protect his tribe from the invaders.

Once Sokka had alerted his father, he climbed the watch tower on the wall of the village and looked out to sea. He was surprised. He had expected to see a fleet of ships approaching but instead he only saw one. But this one ship was unlike any other he had seen in his 18 years. This ship was far more ornate that the purely functional battleships he had seen on previous raids. Also he noticed that the flag flown was not the sea raven of The Southern Raiders but a golden dragon upon the black flames of the Fire Nation. Sokka did not know what this meant but he had a gut feeling that it was worse than any number of sea ravens.

Sokka stood next to his father and the other warriors on the shore as the ship finally arrived at the village. As the ramp was lowered, his hand went to the boomerang tucked into the sash he wore around his waist, getting ready for the soldiers that he knew would pour of the ship. But they never came. Instead, three young women walked off the boat. The one in the centre wore a golden flame in her hair and was flanked on either side by the two others. They made not move to attack, they just simply walked towards the Water Tribe Warriors.

Sokka's brain began to whir as he processed this new information. Sokka now knew who approached their village and realised that his earlier fears had been fully justified. After quickly whispering this knowledge into Hakoda's ear, the small procession stopped in front of Sokka.

Hakoda bowed low and said "Greetings, Princess Azula. What brings you so far South?"

"I have no time for idle pleasantries and so I will get down to the business which has brought me so far from civilisation." replied Azula.

"My mission here is to ensure the loyalty of this tribe to the Fire Nation" said Azula loudly so all the warriors could hear. "To do so, I will take the first born son of every family in this pathetic village and conscript them into the military as a sign of your allegiance to the Fire Nation. Should your tribe commit any act of defiance against the Fire Nation, every single one of your sons will be tortured and killed."

"NEVER!" shouted one of the warriors that stood by Sokka. Before anyone could respond a fire ball shot from the hand of the princess and struck the warrior's chest. He was flung backwards, flipping head over heels before he finally landed on the ice. He doubled up in pain and lay on the ground making no effort to stand up again. 'Perhaps that was for the better' thought Sokka to himself.

"Do you accept my offer?" said Azula calmly, lowering her hand.

Sokka knew that his father had no choice. He could not deny the Princess what she wished. The consequences for his tribe would be far too dire is he refused, even more so than if he accepted.

When the black snow fell that morning, Sokka has sworn to himself to do whatever it took to protect his tribe. He was no longer helpless against the Fire Nation, he was a warrior. But that would not save the men and boys that were to be taken away from their families. No, thought Sokka to himself, to help his people he would have to give his life to the same people which had killed his mother.

Sokka stepped forward, meeting the glaring golden eyes of the princess and bowed, not once breaking eye contact. "Princess Azula, I am Sokka, son of the chief of this tribe. I ask that you allow me, and me alone, to serve the Fire Nation to prove the loyalty of my tribe. The sons of this tribe are too young and are unfit for battle. They would only weaken your army"

Azula looked into the bright blue eyes of that man that had dared to approach her. In them she saw a fierce determination and bravery that reminded her of the eyes that stared back at her from the mirror. She listened to his proposal; it was true that boys and teenagers would be useless in the army but would one hostage be enough to ensure the loyalty of an entire tribe. How did she know that this savage would remain loyal to the Fire Nation? Azula was so deep in thought that she failed to notice the outspoken warrior whom she had struck down rise to his feet and unsheathe his boomerang.

Sokka glimpsed movement out of the corner of his eye and turned round to see the warrior fling the razor sharp boomerang towards the princess. As much as Sokka hated the fire nation, he knew that the death or injury of the Fire Princess would mean the end of his tribe. Sokka jumped high of the ground and with his right hand he plucked the fast spinning boomerang out of the air. As Sokka landed he turned back to the would-be assassin and threw the boomerang which had come metres from costing every single member of the tribe their life. The boomerang curved through the air and struck the warrior on the temple, knocking him unconscious before his body hit the ice with a loud thud. Sokka turned round once again to face the princess and saw an expression on her face that very few people had seen, surprise.

Azula tried to make sense of what had just happened. Had one of these peasants just saved her life? Not only that but he had done it so fast and so elegantly that it took her brain a few seconds to make sense of it all, but only a few seconds. She quickly composed herself, her expression returning to the look of general disdain that so often inhabited her complexion.

"You make a valid point, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe and have proven your loyalty to the Fire Nation. I believe that your service to the armed forces will be sufficient to ensure the loyalty of this tribe to the Fire Nation." Said Azula, her voice not wavering despite what had happened just seconds previously.

"Thank you Princess" replied Sokka, "Will you allow me time to bid farewell to my family?"

"You may have 5 minutes but no longer, I will await you on the Royal Barge." said Azula. She turned around and walked quickly back to the ship followed closely by the two women on either side who were almost jogging to keep up.

Sokka turned to face the men behind him, all of whom had their mouths open with surprise. Hakoda turned to his son, his eyes beginning to tear up and embraced him in a tight hug. "Sokka, you have saved the lives of every member of this tribe by giving yours to serve the nation that you hate so fiercely. How can we repay you?"

"Keep the tribe safe dad, keep Katara safe." replied Sokka, also crying. He realised that he may never see these people again, these people who meant so much to him. But he had saved his tribe as he had failed to do so many times before this. Sokka knew that by serving the Fire Nation he would keep his friends and family safe and that was something worth giving your life for.

After many tearful farewells, Sokka walked up the ramp of the ship, his possessions strapped to his back. As the ramp was lifted up, Sokka took one last glimpse at the village in which he had spent his entire life, the village which he must leave in order to save. He turned around on the deck to face the woman who represented the Nation he must serve to help the ones he loved.


	2. Chapter 2

Sokka brought his gaze up to meet the golden eyes of the woman who stared at him, it may have been a reflection the pale light of the Antarctic but he could swear he could see flames in her irises.

As he remarked upon this, the true gravity of the situation began to sink in. He was now destined to spend the rest of his life serving a nation he had be brought up to hate, the nation that had killed his mother simply because it was easier than taking her prisoner. Worse than that, as a soldier he would have to kill enemies of the fire nation, in other words his allies, perhaps even other water tribesman. Sokka's gut twisted painfully at the thought of this. Could he bring himself to do it? Sokka honestly didn't know what he would do if he was put in that situation. 'Well' Sokka thought to himself, there is no point in imagining every possible terrible situation that he could face during his new life. He would just start crying again and that was one thing he did not want the princess to see.

No matter how dire his situation became, Sokka knew he had to force himself to recall what his sacrifice had achieved. He knew that as long as he served the Fire Nation loyally, his entire tribe would be safe, provided they didn't do anything that could be conceived as rebellion. Fortunately that was something Sokka had forced his father to promise before he boarded the ship. As evil as he knew the Fire Nation was, this princess seemed like a pretty reasonable person to him, despite the rumours he had heard. She had accepted his proposal and in doing so had spared all but one family the pain of losing a son. Sokka believed her word could be trusted as long as she wasn't provoked. No, pissing Princess Azula off was not high on Sokka's list of things to do.

"What now, my Princess" said Sokka, unable to extinguish all notes of sarcasm from the last part. '_Great start Sokka, well done!_' he thought.

"You will be taken to the Fire Nation Army training camp on Crescent Island and once you have completed the basic training course you will serve in the Army until retirement" said Azula. "Or your untimely death" the last part was added in retaliation to his earlier discrepancy. It had the desired effect; Sokka's face grew slightly paler in response.

"Oh, right" said Sokka, managing a weak smile and gulping at this most unwelcome news. "How long before we arrive at Crescent Island?" Sokka continued, trying not to show the effect that the Princess' words had caused.

"A week at most" replied Azula. She was slightly disappointed that her words had not caused more of a reaction. Then again, she was used to dealing with nobles who were particularly spineless.

"And what would you have me do during the journey?" said Sokka.

"Well I was expecting to return from the South Pole with 50 or so angry peasants, so I hadn't really thought of that" mused Azula out loud. "I suppose you had best start your duties as a soldier now, unless you would prefer to be locked up?" she asked rhetorically.

"Quartermaster Sergeant, show this man to the crew's quarters and issue him with some uniform. Then I'm sure you can assign him some duties for the week."

"Right away princess", replied a middle aged man standing behind Azula. "Follow me soldier" he continued as he turned and began to walk towards a door that must lead below deck. Despite his age, this man was more muscled than all of the younger soldiers on deck. Another person not to piss off, noted Sokka.

"And peasant, if you try to escape I will make sure that you and your entire tribe pay for it."

"Thought hadn't even crossed my mind" replied Sokka as he followed the Quartermaster below deck. He couldn't help the sarcasm with which he uttered these last words. Sokka could only remain serious for a limited period of time, even in situations such as this.

Azula couldn't help but smirk slightly at this last comment. Few people had the guts to attempt humour in her presence, even fewer succeeded. This water tribesman clearly wasn't as stupid as he seemed. She looked up just in time to see Sokka stub his toe on the doorframe and start cursing and hopping on the uninjured foot. Well perhaps he was close.

Azula turned to face her two friends who had so far remained silent during the conversation. "Sooooo, what happened to taking all the firstborn sons hostage?" asked Mai

"Yeah, I thought that was the plan" added Ty Lee.

"Will one hostage be enough to keep the Southern Water Tribe from rebelling?" continued Mai, looking slightly concerned.

"Although, that being said, what a hostage…" said Ty Lee, trailing off at the end of sentence as she glanced to her right to see Sokka disappearing below deck after having recovered from his injury.

"Ugh!" groaned Azula and Mai in unison.

"What, even you have got to admit he's pretty cute." said Ty Lee, sounding slightly wounded by the two girls' negative response.

"I do not have to do anything of the sort" replied Azula. She hadn't really thought of him in that way before Ty Lee had brought it up, but now she thought about it… No, she was a princess and he was a savage.

"Besides, I haven't had breakfast yet and I'm starving" continued Azula, partly trying to appease the rumbling noises her stomach had started making but mostly trying to change the subject of conversation.

"I was just saying …" replied Ty Lee.

"I think that might be your problem Ty" said Mai, "perhaps you shouldn't '_just say_' things so much."

"Hey" responded Ty Lee sounding even more hurt

Azula sighed as she walked off towards her chambers with the two squabbling girls following behind her.

Once Sokka had been issued with a uniform, the Quartermaster showed him to an empty bunk room in which Sokka dumped his meagre possessions. He hadn't brought much, anticipating that everything would be confiscated upon his boarding the ship. All that he had with him were his boomerang, a hunting knife and changes of underwear (although he wouldn't need those as he now had army issue boxers. He wondered if there was anything special about these military boxers, maybe they were fireproof?). Sokka was told to report to the duty officer in 15 minutes to receive his duties and with that the quartermaster left.

Quickly Sokka stripped of his dirty Water Tribe garments and changed into his new uniform. '_Not bad_' he thought as he looked into the small mirror just above the sink in the corner of the room. The uniform fitted him surprisingly well given that the quartermaster had adopted the 'one size fits all' policy. It consisted of a sleeveless top which was then covered by a red and black tunic which came to just above his knees. There was also a pair of khaki trousers which tucked into the black leather boots he had struggled to put on. The only piece of armour he had been given was a set of pauldrons that covered his shoulders and some of his upper arms. 'Apparently his safety wasn't _that_ important' Sokka thought. He had also been given a helmet but Sokka didn't think it necessary to wear since he wasn't planning to engage in combat. Once he had hooked his boomerang and knife on to his belt and retied his wolf's tail, which had started to look ragged as a result of the day's events, Sokka made his way back up on to the deck with the hopes of finding directions to the duty officer from there.

After quite a few wrong turns and even more swearing, Sokka finally made his way to the main deck. He caught the attention of a soldier who was patrolling the edge of the deck and asked directions. Needless to say Sokka was rather embarrassed when the soldier pointed towards a door with the words 'DUTY OFFICER' engraved into it which was just behind Sokka. After thanking the soldier who only gave a disapproving head shake as a response, he knocked on the door and a voice bade him to enter. Sokka had to use both hands to wrench the heavy door open and stepped inside, trying to close the door behind him with a little more grace than he had opened it. He failed.

"So you are the man that saved the Princess' life." began the man who sat behind a large desk in the centre of room. "I was expecting you to be a little more …"

"Coordinated?" offered Sokka.

"I was going to say impressive but that is also true" replied the officer, chuckling slightly at Sokka's self-depreciating joke. "You didn't seem so uncoordinated when you caught that boomerang" he continued.

"I didn't really think about what I was doing, it was more like a reflex than anything" replied Sokka.

"No matter, I am grateful for what you did" said the officer. "You have no idea how much trouble I would be in if the Princess had been injured on my watch."

"I can imagine." replied Sokka, eager to stay on the good side of the officer.

"Anyway, back to the matter at hand." said the Officer, becoming serious once again. "The princess has asked me to assign you duties despite you not being an official member of the crew."

"The alternative was for me to be locked in the brig for the entire journey, so I am happy to help in any way I can" said Sokka. Honestly he didn't mind helping out as long as it kept him out of chains. Chains would only reinforce the fact that he truly was imprisoned.

"Well, to be honest, there isn't really much to be done" said the officer. "Royal convoys don't tend to be that eventful. The most exciting thing to happen is the occasional pirate attack, but they run away with their tail between their legs at the first sign of fire bending." he continued. "The princess' royal guard deal with all matters of her security, all that the Navy provides is a helmsman, a navigator, a few engineers and myself, oh and some cooks. So, in fact, there aren't actually any duties for you."

Sokka started to smile. No duties, his situation was starting to sound better than the thought it would be.

"But" said the officer, interrupting Sokka's optimistic thoughts, "I know better than to disobey a direct order from the princess and so I have assigned you to my service, I hope you like admin soldier because that's what a duty officer lives for." continued the officer, the second half of his sentence was said with mock enthusiasm.

Several hours later Sokka left the duty officer's office. The man was Commander Li and had served as an enlisted soldier before being given a commission. Sokka presumed this was why he seemed friendlier than expected. Li had warned that most other officers were pretty arrogant, especially the younger ones. His advice had been to salute them and say 'sir' as many times as possible and they shouldn't cause him too much bother. Li had allowed Sokka to finish for the day since he they had got through the mountain of paperwork quicker than expected. Sokka felt his stomach rumble and remembered that he hadn't had lunch. He would have to remedy that. _'Finding the damned galley would be a good start'_ thought Sokka as he once again descended the stairs that led below deck. Despite the gravity of this whole situation, Sokka couldn't help but feel a little bit hopeful. Hopeful that his time as a soldier may not be as terrible as it had first seemed. Then again this was only the start of his journey; the number of things that could go wrong from here onwards was infinite.


End file.
